What type of distribution system does your condo have, forced air or hydronic hot water?

Would you consider changing or upgrading your distribution system?

SR

I have a forced air ducted system. Changing to hydronic radiant heat wouldn't be an option for me. I am looking into going with a ducted cold climate air source heat pump. But figure it would be advantageous to also convert my hot water tank to a heat pump if I can integrate it into the system. I've seen this kind of thing mentioned in articles but can't really find what I am looking for in google searches.

Generally, Hybrid Hot Water Heaters are stand alone units.

You need to do a little more research so as to allow you to frame a decent query in a new OP.

What you asked for in your initial post does exist however it would be more expensive to implement than the savings you would likely see in return. You would be better served by separate systems of a high efficiency air-source heat pump and a conventional DHW tank.

Regarding heat pump domestic hot water tanks, I don’t know about your jurisdiction but where I live, insurance companies demand that tanks be replaced every 10-years or your water damage is cancelled.

Should that apply to your insurance policy I’d rethink the DHW HP tank due to initial AND replacement cost as you might be buying TWO tanks within 10-years.

YMMV

IMPO

SR

"where I live, insurance companies demand that tanks be replaced every 10-years or your water damage is cancelled."

I think you've said before that you live in a foreign country, not in the US. The rules and practices where you are, are likely substantially different.

I've never heard of a rule or practice like this and I'm pretty confident that nothing like this exists by insurance company mandate or state law in my state.

Not in MD either.

Curiosity has gotten the best of me and was wondering if you could share the problem with the flue with the downstairs neighbor. But anyway you can replace the present furnace with a high efficiency condensing furnace and the hot water heater with a high efficiency condensing tankless hot water heater. Both exhaust out the wall so you won't use the present flue. I've never heard of a dispute between neighbors over a flue. Noise? Smoke? Oder?

“I think you've said before that you live in a foreign country, not in the US. The rules and practices where you are, are likely substantially different.

I've never heard of a rule or practice like this and I'm pretty confident that nothing like this exists by insurance company mandate or state law in my state.”

I’m in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It’s not only insurance companies that insist on 10-year replacement but condo associations as well. DHW tanks installed and rented through a branch corporation of our electrical utility automatically replaces all DHW tanks routinely every 10-years.

We have a Stainless Steel DHW tank made in Norway to EU environmental standards that are quite high. It might last as long as our house stands but we have no insurance coverage for its water damage. We just periodically have the over pressure/temperature valve replaced to ensure (hopefully) proper operation; the S.S. vessel does not deteriorate like standard tanks do. It’s also located near a recently installed drainage system designed and installed under the supervision of a mechanical professional engineer so that the likelihood of a disaster is mitigated (somewhat). The tank is located on the cement slab in the basement very close to the drain. A WiFi water leak detection system would also be a good idea but we don’t have one - yet…

I would encourage the careful reading of insurance policies and condo association bylaws - especially all the small print with asterisks and footnotes.

As they say, ‘YMMV’!

Caveat Emptor

IMPO

SR

Isn't Canada a foreign country - to this forum?

No such Insurance requirement in any of the States I've lived in which is more than ten States!

This has nothing to do with the concept of caveat emptor nor Your Mileage May Vary. You can continue on, my friend, but it may as well be in a foreign language because you're describing your foreign country. The practices you're familiar with are not common and perhaps not even known anywhere in the US. I've never heard of renting a hot water-producing appliance, they're inexpensive enough to replace and property owners buy them. Nor would that be something to be expected as a service from a utility company, that sounds quite odd too.

I own both a detached private home as well as a condo in another part of my state. I've never heard of nor encountered the rules and practices that you describe to be common in Quebec. Maybe they exist in other parts of the US but I doubt what you assume to be common is in fact that.

Condensing hot water heater or furnace are probably not an option. Living in a condo, I can't add in a horizontal PVC exhaust since it would change the look of the condos. A vertical one would need to be at least 30 feet long and not sure if they'd ok a new roof vent considering we just had our roofs redone over the summer.

The Flue pipe issue. The flue is shared with my downstairs neighbor. It of course runs through a chase through my 2 floors and out the attic. There was a very minor noise issue when they had a yapping dog when it was standing in a certain area, but not an issue any more.

Problem is the original builders (Hovnanian) are incompetent at best. The chase also has my neighbors 2 MUA vents and my HVAC return ducts. They put the flue and MUA vents in the wrong place and left hardly any room for the return air. Long story short, space is limited, access to move stuff around is limited, if I don't have to share the flue pipe I can install a smaller size one when I attempt to move it over leaving more space for new return air ducting.

This picture is the piece of duct between my return air plenum in the chase connecting to the filter box next to my HVAC unit. You can see the great job they did sealing it. Can't see it but the flue pipe is only an inch or 2 to the left of it. It's an 8 X 20 duct which is about half the size needed from my over 1400 CFM HVAC unit, If you don't over size it by 20 to 25% that people often do for the returns..

Side note, the chase is supposed to be fire rated and all penetrations are supposed to be fire sealed.